One of my friends does some freelance automotive writing on the side of his regular job and he took me out in the new MR2 Spyder today. It had about 8,000 hard journalist miles on it, and it showed.

I thought it was going to fall apart it rattled so much. I'm driving a rental Dodge Neon with 16,000 miles that was much more solid than that car. Very surprising for a 25k car.

Other than that, I don't see how one could compare the MR2 to our S2Ks. It is basically a gussied- up Miata clone. The interior might look nice new, but after 8,000 miles I don't think I could tell the difference in interior quality between the MR2 vs. a Corolla. The parts are cheap and they just didn't wear well.


That's one guys take on it... I'm sure others who have driven one might feel differently. I'm really surprised that people are willing to pay over MSRP for that car.

 

Some people would find the MR2 Spyder more attractive if it had the more powerful Celica engine.

But Toyota is worried that the old MR2 died after it got too pricey, and they seem to be resisting any improvements.

 

One of my friends has one and keeps saying how much it really needs more hp. He had it out in the Nevada desert last month on his way back from California and he was trying to see what the top speed was, he said in 5th gear the car wouldn't pull the rpms to hit the potential top speed. I took him for a ride in my S2000 last week and once I got to about 6k rpms he just started giggling. By the time I redlined it he was laughing like a maniac. After I shifted and slowed down a bit he just looked at me and said "I hate you" LOL.

 

A guy I work with recently got a new MR2 Spyder (parked in the new "roadster" section of the parking lot). We haven't swapped test drives yet, but we started talking about our cars one day. Well, actually he had a lot to say about his car, with its 240 HP and mind-boggling performance. He was so pleased about getting his hands on one of these hot collector's items and the deal he got ($35K ), but it sounds like maybe the dealer had some fun with him. I just kind of smiled to myself...

 

Don't underestimate the new Spyder. I'm anxiously awaiting my first drive in one as they perform quite well in autocross situations. It is lighter than the S2K and has a rear-mid engine design (see low polar moment of inertia thread). I welcome another fun roadster to our shores!

 

My friend actually likes most everything about his MR2 except for the horsepower/weight ratio. He also wants some nicer seats, he really liked the seats in my S2000. If the Spyder had 40 more hp it would be right at the same ratio of the S2000 and it does have great handling.

 

When I started looking for a convertible, I had three candidates: S2000, Miata and MR-2 Spider. I was very much interested in MR-2, and that was the first car to take out for a ride. After a short ride, however, I was deeply disappointed. The car looked nice in pictures or on a computer screen, but in reality, the first glance at it showed how

 

I gotta agree with you Morangie.

After I got out of the MR2 I took my S2K for a drive to get an even comparison.

I can't believe that the S2k is only $7,000 (if you got it at MSRP) more than the MR2.

There is a huge jump in performance and quality for the extra $7,000.

Remember those standardized tests you took in high school? Where you had to do word comparisons? Here's my take on it comparing these cars:

The S2K compares to an E36 M3 sedan as
The MR2 compares to a cheap Prelude

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LATEOTT:
[B]...actually he had a lot to say about his car, with its 240 HP

 

At this year's Detroit Grand Prix I spoke with some TRD marketing reps and they stated that the 2ZZ-GE engine [ie, 1.8L DOHC 180 bhp 4 cylinder engine] will be placed in the MR-S Summer of 2001. They claim that the car "just gets under 6.0 seconds to sixty mph." I welcome it's arrival.